 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | July 20, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC and The Ring welterweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Forrest defeats Mosley via unanimous decision | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vernon Forrest vs. Shane Mosley II, billed as The Rematch of the Century, was a professional boxing match contested on July 20, 2002, for the WBC and The Ring welterweight championship. [1]
During their first fight in January 2002, Shane Mosley, who was ranked as the pound for pound best fighter in the world, was dropped twice en route to a shock unanimous decision loss to Vernon Forrest. In May Forrest and Mosley agreed to terms for a rematch for July 20 in Indianapolis, Indiana. [2]
This time Forrest entered the bout as the slight favourite to win. Speaking before the bout he said "I'm taking the same mentality as I had last time, that it's do or die. To defeat him again would solidify what I did the first time." He also admitted that he needed to improve on his previous performance in order to repeat it, saying "I have to add to what I did last time, If I fight the same, I don't think that will be enough to win." [3] [4]
15,775 people attended the fight making it the largest boxing crowd ever in Indiana.
Forrest kept on the outside using his height and reach as an advantage, as well as using his jab more effectively. His effective counter-punching was able to prevent Mosley from landing his powerful left hook.
The fight went the full 12 round distance. The scorecards were closer than the first fight, however still had Forrest as the winner with Gary Merritt scoring it 117–111, Tony Castellano 116-112 and Jerry Roth 115–113. [5] [6]
HBO's unofficial scorer Harold Lederman scored the bout 116–112 for Forrest while USA Today scored it 115–113 in favour of Forrest. [7]
Speaking after the bout Forrest said "He came out very, very aggressive the first couple of rounds, I knew it would be hard for him to maintain that pace for 12 rounds." Mosley meanwhile explained his strategy saying "My plan was to move in and catch him with a hard shot. I didn't get a chance to get that shot. It was a lot of clinch, move, clinch move." [8] [9]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 Antonio Tarver | Eric Harding | Light heavyweight (10 rounds) | 5th-round TKO |
| Non-TV bouts | |||
| José Celaya |  Hector Quiroz | NABO Welterweight title | Unanimous technical decision |
| Nick Cook | George Blades | Indiana State Light heavyweight title | Unanimous decision |
| Clarence Vinson | Juan Jose Beltran | Super bantamweight (8 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
 Duncan Dokiwari | Tim Knight | Heavyweight (6 rounds) | 5th-round KO |
| Sherwin Davis |  Michael Soberanis | Light middleweight (6 rounds) | 3rd-round TKO |
| Enrique Ruiz | Nick Flores | Heavyweight (4 rounds) | 2nd-round TKO |
| Dimitrique Edwards | Patrick Lewis | Cruiserweight (4 rounds) | Unanimous decision |
| Xavier Toliver | Mark Scott | Light middleweight (4 rounds) | 1st-round TKO |
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
| United States | HBO |
Oscar De La Hoya is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including lineal championships in three weight classes. De La Hoya was nicknamed "The Golden Boy of Boxing" by the media when he represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics where, shortly after having graduated from James A. Garfield High School, he won a gold medal in the lightweight division, and reportedly "set a sport back on its feet."
Shane Mosley, often known by his nickname "Sugar" Shane Mosley, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2016. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF lightweight title; the WBA (Super) and WBC welterweight titles; and the WBA (Super), WBC, and The Ring magazine light middleweight titles. He was also a lineal champion at welterweight (twice) and light middleweight.
DeMarcus Deon Corley is an American professional boxer. A veteran of the sport for more than two decades, he held the WBO junior welterweight title from 2001 to 2003, and has fought as a gatekeeper against many of boxing's biggest names.
Ricardo Antonio Mayorga Perez is a Nicaraguan professional boxer and former mixed martial artist. In boxing he is a former two-weight world champion, having held the unified WBA (Unified), WBC, Ring magazine, and lineal welterweight titles in 2003, and the WBC super welterweight title from 2005 to 2006. Mayorga first became well known to boxing fans upon being featured on the cover of The Ring's December 2003 issue, entitled "The craziest man in the sport: Mayorga lights up boxing." He has since maintained this infamous reputation with his relentless trash-talk in the build-up to most of his fights, as well as his smoking and drinking habits outside the ring.
Antonio Margarito Montiel is a Mexican-American former professional boxer who competed between 1994 and 2017. He held multiple welterweight world championships, including the WBO title from 2002 to 2007, the IBF title in 2008, and the WBA (Super) title from 2008 to 2009. He also challenged three times for a light middleweight world title between 2004 and 2011. Nicknamed El Tornado de Tijuana, Margarito was known for his aggressive pressure fighting style and exceptionally durable chin.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed between 1996 and 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and won 15 major world championships spanning five weight classes from super featherweight to light middleweight. This includes the Ring magazine title in three weight classes and the lineal championship in four weight classes. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics, three U.S. Golden Gloves championships, and the U.S. national championship at featherweight. After retiring from professional boxing in August 2017, he transitioned to exhibition boxing.
Sergio Mora is an American former professional boxer. He is a former WBC light middleweight champion, and twice challenged for the WBA (Regular) middleweight title. He was the first winner of NBC's The Contender series.
Vernon Forrest was an American professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC, IBF, Ring magazine and lineal welterweight between 2002 and 2003, and the WBC super welterweight title twice between 2007 and 2009. In 2002, Forrest was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring and the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Carlos Manuel Baldomir is an Argentine former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2014. He held the unified IBF, WBC, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles in 2006, and challenged once for the WBC super welterweight title in 2007. On July 31, 2019, Baldomir was sentenced to 18 years in prison for molesting his 8 year old daughter over a period of 2 years. In March 2020, false rumors spread that Baldomir had been killed in a prison riot after a picture was shared online of a deceased prisoner that bore a striking resemblance to the disgraced boxer.
Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito, billed as "The Battle", was a professional boxing match between WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and former IBF and WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito. The WBA welterweight title bout took place on July 26, 2008, at the MGM Grand in Paradise, Nevada, and resulted in an eleventh round technical knockout victory for Margarito. Margarito was later suspected of cheating in this bout after controversy arose over his use of hand wraps after his bout with Shane Mosley.
Mike Alvarado is an American professional boxer who held the WBO light welterweight title in 2013.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Miguel Cotto, billed as Ring Kings, was a professional boxing match contested on May 5, 2012, for the WBA (Super) super welterweight championship. The bout was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Mayweather won the fight by unanimous decision in what was deemed to be a clear, but very competitive fight.
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley II, billed as Redemption, was a professional boxing match contested on September 13, 2003 for De La Hoya's WBA (Unified), WBC, IBA, and The Ring light middleweight championship.
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley, billed as Destiny, was a professional boxing match contested on June 17, 2000 for the WBC and IBA welterweight titles.
Manny Pacquiao competed in professional boxing from 1995 to 2021. Regarded by boxing historians as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time, Pacquiao is the only boxer in history to win twelve major world titles in eight different weight divisions. He is also the first boxer in history to win the lineal championship in five different weight divisions, as well as being the first boxer in history to win major world titles in four of the original eight weight divisions of boxing, also known as the "glamour divisions": flyweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight.
Vernon Forrest vs. Ricardo Mayorga was a professional boxing match contested on January 25, 2003, at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. The fight was a unification match, with Forrest's World Boxing Council and The Ring welterweight world championships at stake along with Mayorga's World Boxing Association Super championship.
Ricardo Mayorga vs. Vernon Forrest II, billed as the Battle of Orleans, was a professional boxing match contested on 12 July 2003, for the WBA, WBC and The Ring welterweight championship.
Shane Mosley vs. Sergio Mora, billed as 200: Celebrate and Dominate, was a professional boxing match contested on September 18, 2010.
William Joppy vs. Félix Trinidad, billed as History in the Making, was a professional boxing match contested on May 12, 2001, for the WBA middleweight championship.
Shane Mosley vs. Vernon Forrest, billed as Sweet Revenge, was a professional boxing match contested on January 26, 2002, for the WBC and The Ring welterweight championship.